The North Face, the first brand in VF Corp.'s portfolio to reach $2 billion in annual revenue, unveiled its first global campaign last week in a bid to bolster its brand in 10 markets spanning five continents.
Entitled “Never Stop,” the campaign blends cinematic footage of The North Face athletes Conrad Anker, Paige Claassen, Xavier De Le Rue and Tom Wallisch pushing their physical boundaries climbing, mountaineering, skiing and snowboarding with scenes of a photographer, marine biologist and scientist to provide a broader cultural and emotional context for the role of exploration.
The campaign will be distributed globally throughout the fourth quarter in more than 10 markets including the U.S., Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, China, Korea, Australia, Nepal and Singapore. It will run across major broadcast and online media around the world, and will also appear via out-of-home executions.
“Whether it’s the epic or the everyday, we want to inspire people to find the thing they love, and relentlessly pursue it,” said Todd Spaletto, president, The North Face. “Building on our previous U.S.-based campaign, ‘Never Stop’ features people who embody the spirit of exploration. It also celebrates the heroes of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC) who represent the spirit of ‘Never Stop.’”
As part of the campaign, The North Face is continuing its partnership with the Department of the Interior and the 21CSC by donating $25,000 each to the Student Conservation Association, American YouthWorks, Conservation Legacy and Team Rubicon, a nonprofit, disaster response organization that unites military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. Founded by two marines following the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake, Team Rubicon seeks to provide veterans with three things they lose after leaving the military: a purpose, gained through disaster relief; community, built by serving with others; and identity, created by joining a new mission.
The 21CSC was launched by the Obama Administration in 2010 as part of the America's Great Outdoors program, which includes many proposals and concepts championed by Outdoor Industry Association members. In October 2013, U.S. Secretary of the Interior and former Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) CEO Sally Jewell announced a Department of the Interior initiative to expand 21CSC through partnerships with private companies. Since then, REI, American Express, American Eagle Outfitters, CamelBak, The Campion Foundation, Youth Outdoor Legacy Fund and the Coca-Cola Foundation have joined the movement. In 2014, The North Face donated $250,000 to support jobs for young adults and returning veterans working on projects to protect and enhance public lands from Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California to Everglades National Park in Florida.
“We appreciate our continued partnership with The North Face, this year highlighting conservation heroes who are making a difference in their communities,” said U.S. Secretary
of the Interior Sally Jewell. “Today’s donation from The North Face will help create opportunities for young people and veterans to engage in important work on our nation’s public lands, nurturing lifelong connections to these special places.”
